Tokyo: Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and major French nuclear energy company Areva will form a capital tie-up in nuclear fuel production, a report said Sunday.

Areva will buy a roughly 30% stake in Mitsubishi Nuclear Fuel Co. and Mitsubishi Heavy will become the nuclear company’s leading shareholder, the business daily Nikkei reported, without citing sources.

Areva’s new investment will expand its existing ties with Mitsubishi Heavy to building nuclear plants and supplying fuel to them, it said.

Areva’s stake will fall short of the 33.4% needed to veto decisions at general meetings, the report said.

The supply of nuclear fuel is expected to tighten as construction projects of nuclear plants are on the rise in the world.